Two weeks ago, staff members from the Yardi corporate marketing and human resources departments in Santa Barbara, Calif. spent a few hours helping local non-profit organization Direct Relief assemble Emergency Medical Backpacks for first responders in disaster zones. For the marketing department the project was a peer energy team effort. Marketing colleagues assemble in small groups for regular activities like team building, socializing, friendly competitions and volunteer outings. The backpack packing effort required the coworkers to travel just a few blocks to the non-profit’s current warehouse, where backpacks and supplies were ready for assembly. (Direct Relief is currently building a new headquarters and warehouse space less than a mile from the Yardi corporate office in Goleta.) “After having a very difficult few months in our community with wildfires and the tragic debris flow, this opportunity to work together with our teams putting together medical backpacks for first responders was extremely uplifting. It felt really good that we could join together and do something that will help save lives, perhaps during another disaster like we had just experienced,” said Lexi Beausoleil, marketing campaign specialist for multifamily. Emergency Medical Backpacks include diagnostic items like a stethoscope and thermometers, infection control supplies like masks and gloves, personal protection tools like a headlamp and safety goggles, and trauma care supplies like bandages and iodine. “These Emergency Medical Backpacks are highly functional and durable, with appropriate and sufficient contents to meet critical disaster-related health needs, as well as the personal protective needs of skilled health workers providing treatment,” a Direct Relief spokesperson explained. Input from experienced emergency responders and field physicians informs the supply list. They are designed to grab-and-go for medical response volunteers or local responders able to provide on-site medical care and support during unexpected disasters or...

After 184 years in business, Irish life assurance company Friends First knows how to provide high-quality service and meet emerging business challenges. Established in 1834 to provide life assurance to the Society of Friends (Quakers), Friends First now offers a wide range of life protection, investment and pension products to more than 281,000 customers. It is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Friends First, which has €4 billion ($4.93 billion) of assets under management as of December 2016, operates a number of complex property investment structures that split properties across different funds and receive data from multiple external sources. Seeking a New Foundation The challenge Friends First faced in 2015 was finding a single connected platform that could house financial and operational data from all of the investment structures and execute portfolio-wide accounting, management and performance reporting. The company found the solution it needed in Yardi Voyager. “Yardi Voyager is the foundation of Friends First’s interactions with property accounting, fund management, property management and external agents,” says Alan Pollard, senior investment specialist for Friends First. For example, performance reports generated from Yardi Voyager data allow the company’s property and fund managers to monitor and manage portfolio and fund performance. Automated accounting for complex split property ownerships and non-standard investment structures relieves Friends First staff of manual data entry and processing, significantly reducing risk. Another key benefit Friends First receives from Yardi Voyager is the ability to map the general ledger to another system’s account codes. “This allows us to extract the data from Yardi Voyager easily and post it to another system. It also simplifies reconciliations and audit trail tracking between systems,” Pollard says. The platform also gives Friends First new capabilities for system-based accruals, which accrue charges collected as a percentage of...

Yardi Oxnard teamed up with Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families to bring hope to local, at-risk youth. About the Non-Profit Casa Pacifica helps children overcome a broad spectrum of difficult circumstances, from abuse and neglect to complex emotional, behavioral, and family issues. Services are offered to more than 4,000 children from Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Kern County, San Luis Obispo County and surrounding regions. The non-profit organization is located on a rural 24-acre campus, providing a serene getaway for recovery from severe emotional, social, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Over 90 percent of the children served by the nonprofit also have alcohol and drug issue that contributed to their placement in Casa Pacifica. Casa Pacifica youth programs include but are not limited to: Short Term Adolescent Treatment and Therapy – for anxiety disorders, trauma and PTSD, Illicit substance use, self-harm behaviors, co-occurring disorders, depressive and bi-polar disorders. Foster Care – placement for more than 1,500 children in need throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The organization provides the required 52-hour training program for parents as well as 24/7 emergency support. Casa Pacifica’s Non-Public Special Education School – a WASC accredited, diploma-granting institution for youth in grades 1 – 12 who are dealing with mental health and developmental issues. Transitional Youth Services – for young adults transitioning from Casa Pacifica services into adulthood. These vital services help young adults continue to prepare for the responsibilities of adulthood—including housing and employment assistance–beyond the care and guidance received through Casa Pacifica. Yardi + Casa Pacifica Yardi Oxnard has established a relationship with Casa Pacifica through the company’s local non-profit grant committee. “We asked for 3-5 volunteers to be a part of the non-profit committee. Employees submitted up to two non-profit organizations they would like to...

For every property management company, success often hinges on selecting — and keeping — quality residents. “With screening technology, we no longer lose our best applicants to the competition due to lagging on approvals or digging through paperwork, and we have reduced our vacancy rate from 13 percent to under 3 percent,” says Jason Roblin, CEO of Canadian-based Vionell Holdings Partnership (VHP). Having tools to not only ensure that operations including leasing run smoothly, but also to make its customers happy, was a big incentive for the company to put the right technology in place. Meeting the challenges of growth Now in its second year as a Yardi client, Vionell Holdings Partnership is a multifamily and condominium property management firm with operations in Brandon and Thompson, Manitoba. The company specializes in leasing, maintenance, budgeting and financial reporting services for its clients. With 1,250 multifamily and 1,500 condo units in its portfolio (along with 100,000 commercial square feet), VHP’s business continues to grow. The thriving company is adding to its Yardi software platform to achieve seamless processes across its business including better reporting and online services for customers that engage more applicants and improve resident retention. VHP uses the Yardi Voyager property management and accounting platform, Yardi Resident Screening, and RentCafe for online marketing, leasing and resident services. Soon, the company will start using Yardi Payment Processing to accept convenient online payments that residents have come to expect for fast deposits that maximize cash flow. Using tech to make customers happy Answering applicant phone calls and processing paper applications with manual background and credit screening was time consuming and exposed VHP to missing out on its best prospects. With Yardi Resident Screening as part of its Voyager leasing workflow, VHP’s applicants are screened and qualified...

Yardi CSD Week is an opportunity for customer service specialists to receive recognition for their hard work, creativity, and innovation. These everyday heroes work directly with clients to solve problems and return business software to optimal operation. Peers and managers recently honored Richard Runswick with the Creative Problem Solver award. We caught up with Runswick recently to learn more about his problem solving ingenuity. Runswick has been encouraged to think critically and creatively all of his life, beginning in grade school. “My parents always encouraged me to excel in school, and I made education a priority,” he said. “I was lucky to grow up in a great school district, where I had teachers that cared about my education and pushed me to succeed.” Runswick joined Yardi after graduating from UCSB in 2012. As an adult, Runswick draws inspiration from his wife Tina Runswick, a Systems Analyst at Yardi. “Her artistic and creative nature have always left me in awe,” he said. Around the Yardi office, Runswick puts those influences to work. He and his teammates must often tackle complex tasks that require unconventional solutions. Whether working solo or as part of an interdepartmental team, Runswick enjoys the challenge. During a Genesis 2 upgrade, for example, several clients experienced intermittent errors that logged them out of the system. Runswick quickly coordinated efforts with the System Reliability Engineers, Systems Analysts, and Development to find a solution. After diving into a series of seemingly unrelated factors, the team identified the error and promptly deployed the solution to Yardi clients. James Austin, Senior Team Lead with CSD, has seen Runswick work through several challenging assignments. “There are many things that help make Richard Runswick an excellent problem solver. It isn’t enough for Richard to simply solve a problem. He also wants to know why...

Yardi Atlanta recently celebrated the most successful Yardi Prom Drive, supporting Foster Care Support Foundation (FCSF) in nearby Roswell, GA. About Foster Care Support Foundation Each year, approximately 8,000 children in Georgia are in need of foster care. Placement in a good home is only part of the battle. Many foster parents and relatives struggle to provide enrichment materials and experiences for the children in their care. For 17 years, FCSF had provided free clothing, infant care equipment, and developmental learning tools to thousands of foster and relative care families. The organization accepts gently used materials to offset its annual operational costs of $700,000. To date, the organization has served more than 50,000 children through its services. Yardi Atlanta + FCSF Yardi formed a relationship with FCSF through the local grant committee. Committee members Shana Winbush and Marilyn Duffield proposed the idea of supporting foster families. The timeliness of FCSF Prom Drive was a perfect fit. Yardi hosted this year’s Prom Drive Boutique in honor of FCSF. Committee member Keiya Huguley helped to coordinate the event. “Many foster families don’t have $200-$500 to pay for the tux, suit, dress, shoes, accessories, make-up, hair, nails, and everything that goes into attending a prom. Prom Drives give foster children a better chance of living a life close as possible to ‘normal,’ despite circumstances. These types of drives are helping families financially and impacting them emotionally,” observes Huguley. To raise awareness for the clothing drive, the committee started a prom photo contest that selected daily winners for a week. Employees submitted their prom photos to enter the daily drawing. Daily winners received entry into the final drawing where they were eligible to become Yardi Prom King and Queen. But before announcing the winners, the team created a...

The next Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference is coming to Washington, D.C., kicking off on May 30, 2018. YASC brings together more than 1,500 professionals from nearly every property and financial management industry for instruction, comradery, and insight into the future of technology. At last year’s YASC, we sat down with Rachel Brown, Section 8 manager for the Fort Smith, Arkansas Housing Authority (FSHA). Rachel has witnessed exciting growth during her nearly 15 years with FSHA, growth that includes personal experiences, organizational development, as well as the growth of clients she serves. Here’s a recap of our conversation last spring. Welcome to YASC! Tell us a little about yourself and your organization. Our mission is to develop, rehabilitate and manage decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing. We promote equal opportunity, fair housing initiatives and the deconcentration of race and poverty. I’ve been with FSHA for nearly 15 years, and we’ve really grown over that time. When I first started as a housing specialist, we had around 450 Public Housing units and less than 1,200 vouchers. Today, we have more than 1,600 vouchers under our management, transitioned 288 public housing units through the RAD program, and replaced 170 public housing units with the help of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.  Our current development efforts include Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units, rehabbing dilapidated housing for sale to low- and moderate-income families, and exploring ways to provide everyone with the affordable housing that meets their needs. What do you find most rewarding about your career thus far? Seeing people’s lives transition and change for the better, those are the real ‘wow’ moments. Clients come into our program in many personal situations. Some are single parents, others are going to school or raising a family. It’s inspiring when they enter our...

When Charles Hunt decided to strike out on his own and start a boutique property management firm in Melbourne, Australia, he knew that one of the factors that would make or break the new business was the technology platform he chose. “CHP Management was born out of the need to provide boutique, high quality add-value service to our clients. We only do property management, and we specialise in bringing back professional service to property management and the real estate industry,” says Hunt, the founder and director of CHP Management, which opened in 2014. The company focuses on privately held retail shopping centres, industrial properties and office buildings. Coming from a major multi-national firm where he had worked for 8 years, Hunt saw that commercial real estate clients were often disappointed or frustrated without the support of personalised customer service. At the same time, they required a robust technology platform that would handle much of the back office work. “We had to make sure that the ‘exact science’ part of our role was done well, accurately and efficiently. That’s what Yardi does for us,” Hunt says. His vision has been recognised –  In 2010 and 2015 he was awarded the honour of REIV Commercial Property Manager of the Year and in 2016 he was a finalist for National REIA Commercial Property Manager of the Year. Four years after Hunt signed his first Yardi contract, he can definitively say that he made a smart choice by choosing the Yardi Commercial Suite. The rapid growth of his company, while maintaining a lean staff size, is proof. CHP Management now has in excess of 100 properties under management after starting with just one. Despite that influx, just one staff member can handle the admin and accounting platform for...

Investment capital isn’t in short supply—plenty is available from China, Europe, the U.S. and other sources. So why are real estate investors working harder, yet finding fewer high-return opportunities? One dampening factor is increased investor choosiness arising from due diligence activities that increased starting in 2009, when a low market virtually guaranteed returns and asset prices would rise. Plus, the regulatory climate has thickened. But the main problem today is that the marketplace, especially the U.S. with its abundance of capital, is chasing relatively few investment opportunities. Can fund managers under pressure to place money they’ve raised find, evaluate and capitalize on good deals? Yes, says Rob Teel, Yardi’s senior vice president of global solutions—if they have the means and ability to unearth opportunities they ordinarily wouldn’t consider, or even know about.  We asked Teel for insight into how technology can be an ally in the effort to identify investment opportunities and manage assets through their life cycle. Q: What’s a key trend among the real estate property owners, managers and investors you encounter? Teel: A lot of people are seeing the advantage of automating investment accounting, performance measurement and investor reporting with an integrated investment and asset management system. They realize that having all decision-making tools within a single system exceeds what’s possible with spreadsheets and separate databases. Managers dealing with hundreds of combined funds, entities, properties and investors are happy to be free of manually uploading data, relying on cumbersome spreadsheets and mining data from separate systems. Q: What matters the most to investment managers as they evaluate potential acquisitions? Teel: Getting a complete picture that helps them decide to acquire an asset and the best option and optimal time for renovating or selling it. This underscores the importance of automating the...

As California’s Central Coast continues to heal after the recent natural disasters, we are thankful for the many volunteers and community agencies who have stepped up to lend a helping hand through events, fundraisers, donations and volunteerism. Yardi employees and executives have recently contributed to the efforts to dig out Montecito homes that suffered mud and flooding damage in the early January slide. Recovery and restoration efforts are ongoing, and volunteer opportunities are available each weekend. A big thank you to the Thomas Fire Benefit Festival, Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, Foodbank SB, and our many employees for supporting the disaster relief efforts. Learn more and get involved at the links below. Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County: https://www.sbhabitat.org/disaster-response Donations and volunteer hours are needed to assist with the Habitat for Humanity recovery campaign. Weekdays and weekend volunteer hours are available. Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade: www.santabarbarabucketbrigade.org Weekend meetups are available for those who would like to contribute sweat equity to those digging out their homes and properties. Foodbank SB: www.foodbanksbc.org The Foodbank assisted with food distribution during the evacuation period, and volunteer opportunities are always available to help with processing donations and other tasks. Thomas Fire Benefit Festival: www.thomasfirebenefit.com Yardi sponsored the Thomas Fire Benefit Festival in Ventura on February 3 at Plaza Park. 100% of proceeds from the Thomas Fire Benefit Festival will be put toward recovery from the devastating Thomas...

Are you feeling energized for 2018? It’s a new year, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities. And while every January can inspire a list of resolutions, for every real estate business one goal is likely to top the list year after year: reduce costs. When it comes to lowering operational expenses, going paperless for as many tasks as possible is smart. And here’s some great news: it’s easier to do than you might think, and the benefits are big. For Dallas-based apartment manager LumaCorp, centralizing and automating procurement and payables processing on its mobile Yardi property management platform using Yardi Procure to Pay has not only reduced costs for the company, but also saves its staff valuable time (in addition to sparing more than a few trees). And in just three months, by eliminating the cost of transporting invoices by courier, Procure to Pay paid for itself. Better Buying and Bigger Discounts LumaCorp manages 24 apartment communities with more than 6,000 units. According to Larry Orth, LumaCorp’s controller, the company’s maintenance, repair and operating supply costs fell by 4 percent the first year after adopting Yardi Procure to Pay, an end-to-end, paperless procurement and invoice processing system that’s part of the Yardi Multifamily Suite full-business platform. Orth said, “For me, the great thing about it is the time efficiency, both at the properties and in the accounting department. We are a full service Procure to Pay client, so the processing is handled by Yardi, which takes a lot off our onsite people’s hands. All told, Procure to Pay has reduced by up to 40 percent the time our team spends on the payables process. And it’s a paperless system, which obviously also benefits the environment.” LumaCorp has also gained savings from the negotiated pricing across...

Yardi Saskatoon participated in the Extra Life game day, a playtime marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital was the local beneficiary of the event. Extra Life  started back in 2008 with a handful of passionate gamers. Since then, the community has grown to more than 100,000 participants. To date, Extra Life has raised more than $40 million for children facing illness and major injuries. The Concept Ideally, Extra Life is a gaming marathon that lasts for 24 consecutive hours. While there is an official Game Day (often early November) gamers are able to contribute whenever their schedules allow. They’re also encouraged to take breaks and spread out the 24 hours as needed. Gamers can choose from a variety of game styles, from PS4 to card games and even hop scotch. It’s an entirely flexible fundraising platform that allows players to customize the experience based on the interests and expertise of those involved. Fundraising milestone are also customizable. Coordinators recommend a minimum of $100, but players are encouraged to select an amount that is personal. For example, Extra Life founder Jeromy Adams set his 2011 goal at $5,415. That odd number represents $5 for each day that his friend Tori spent fighting leukemia before she succumbed to the illness. Passionate participants begin by receiving achievement badges, milestones in raising awareness and rallying support. For every year of participation, gamers receive Legacy Badges that distinguish them from newbies in the field. Power Ups are the participants’ ultimate in-game reward! Each year, coordinators collaborate with partners to offer “gaming goodies.” These can range from discounts to expansion packs and merchandise. Platinum players receive Extra Life memorabilia such as t-shirts, medals, and exclusive prizes. The Event The event was held on-site on the...

Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. It is the only cause of death within the top 10 list that currently cannot be prevented, cured or slowed. Many Americans are working to change that. Yardi client Senior Star of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has joined in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Senior Star operates 14 communities with a total of 2,200 apartments in six states. A small but mighty force in the senior housing industry, the company is making its mark on Alzheimer’s research and awareness.  When Yardi reported on Senior Star in 2014, the company raised $255,000 through The Walk to End Alzheimer’s®. In 2017, the company successfully raised $600,000. In the last five years, the organization has exceeded $2.3 million in funds raised. Associates from throughout the organization raised funds and put in the miles to make it happen. Tyler Hanes, Project Director at Senior Star, is one such associate. He has participated in the walk for six years. His work with memory support communities encouraged his participation in the walks. In 2010, Senior Star acquired its first memory support community. Hanes frequently visited with the residents and their families. The experience had a profound impact on his understanding of the disease. “I had always been aware of Alzheimer’s, but I never fully understood the magnitude of the disease until I was touched that year by so many of our remarkable residents struggling with Alzheimer’s. I was initially encourage by Robert (Bob) Thomas, one of the Senior Star founders, to join the Walk To End Alzheimer’s and I’m certainly grateful for his words of wisdom,” says Hanes. Hanes received support from as far away as Toronto. “It’s always inspiring to know the people we work alongside, no matter their geographical location, share...

Many multifamily firms are turning to corporate social responsibility (CSR) to meet the needs of their communities beyond the walls of the homes that they develop, manage and support. CSR initiatives encompass a company’s efforts to promote positive societal, economic or environmental change. The initiatives are self-regulated, and the scope and scale of CSR programs can vary widely. The results, however, share common benefits. Four real estate firms shared their successful approaches to local and international CSR projects. Spreading local goodwill MC Residential of Arizona founded the Sharing the Good Life Foundation, the company’s non-profit, to make a positive difference in the communities where employees live, work, learn and play. Lesley Brice, President, has been involved since the nascent stages of the program. “We’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years, most of which have been through payroll deductions and time off deductions or donations, as well as vendor matching activities,” Brice said. The Foundation has collected 715 volunteer hours, 42,036 employee PTO hours, and $55,617 in payroll contributions. The funds raised are directed towards local nonprofit organizations. The nonprofits are nominated by employees and selected by a peer grant committee. In recent years, MC Residential focused resources on two national organizations: Autism Speaks and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC). “We found our niche in raising money for autism when we brought autism awareness to the Arizona Multihousing Association (AMA). We raised over $100,000, mostly through PTO donations. We created a program, hours4autism.com. That way, rather than reaching in their pocket, team members can donate hours of PTO time toward whatever charity we were getting behind at the time. Everyone got to participate in a little way that added up,” Brice said. MC Residential also encouraged vendor...

Yardi client USA Properties teamed up with Life Steps in 1996 to create the J.B. Brown Fund, a philanthropic partnership to help residents of affordable housing fulfill their academic potential, participate in sports, and overcome financial hardships. The Fund Geoffrey C. Brown, president and CEO of USA Properties Fund Inc., co-created J.B. Brown fund in honor of his father. His father established the company’s mission back in 1981. The fund is an extension of that mission. “What’s important to me is our tagline as a company: Creating Outstanding Communities,’” says Brown. “To me, an outstanding community isn’t just a pretty project with sticks and bricks. A nice community also includes the social services that we provide.” Social services at USA Properties begin with LifeSteps, a resource provider offering skills training and educational programs that empower residents. Services are extended through the J.B. Brown fund. The athletic opportunities offered through the fund are close to Brown’s heart. He participated in youth sports as a child and coached his children in youth sports for several years. “The lessons learned in youth sports are invaluable,” begins Brown. “You learn teamwork, discipline, and competition but most importantly, you learn how to lose. You learn that you can’t be afraid to fail. That might be the most valuable of all lessons.” The crown jewels of the J.B. Brown Fund are the academic scholarships, awarded to residents that strive to attend institutions of higher learning. To date, the J.B. Brown Fund has been able to fund every qualified applicant. “We want to create a mindset where people don’t think that because they grew up in affordable housing community that they can’t go to college,” explains Brown. “We’ve had a number of successful people who have gone through the whole program....

At Yardi, community outreach is built into the fibers of daily operations. Yardi corporate empowers local offices to award grants to nonprofits within their communities. Each office receives a sum that can be shared between local charitable organizations. The Process In Scottsdale, the Yardi office organized a committee composed of volunteer employees. Each participant nominated up to two nonprofits. The nominations were accompanied by a presentation on the nonprofit including its mission and community impact. With presentations complete, the committee then voted to select six nonprofits that fit the criteria of Yardi corporate. The Recipients The following nonprofits received the committee’s final approval. Committee members hosted a small ceremony in which representatives from each organization could visit the office, speak on behalf of their nonprofit, receive the donation and share how the contribution would be used to uplift the community. Comfort Food Pantry is an affiliate of Feeding America, a program dedicated to delivering food and necessities to families in the East Valley. The organization offers non-judgmental assistance to those in need in an effort to strengthen the community. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention raises awareness and provides resources and aid to those affected by suicide. The organization funds research to improve interventions, educate clinicians in suicide prevention, and advocate for policy that will save lives. Save the Family helps families overcome homelessness through housing assistance, education and employment opportunities, caseworker support, and other life-enhancement programs Tempe Community Action Agency provides education, stability, and advocacy to working poor families, seniors and the homeless. The organization’s outreach programs benefit 43,000 people. Days for Girls: Love Girls, Period serves more than 1 million women and girls worldwide. The nonprofit provides washable menstrual hygiene solutions, health education, and social enterprises to females in need. Homeward Bound creates pathways out...

“We wanted innovation and efficiency,” Sandeep Manak, chief financial officer for Wesgroup Properties LP, said in November 2016, when his company announced its adoption of products from the Yardi Commercial Suite.  “We wanted a platform that integrated various departments so they could work more collaboratively.”  Other priorities included lower operational costs, more accurate budgeting and efficient management of an existing commercial and growing multifamily portfolio. One year later, how has that plan played out for Vancouver, British Columbia-based Wesgroup, a fully integrated real estate owner, operator and developer with 61 commercial and residential income-producing assets? “We have made good progress,” Manak says, starting with better access to lease and portfolio data. “Centralizing all lease and financial records in Yardi Voyager gives us a holistic repository of information that is easily accessible. We don’t have to look at different places or worry about version control or broken links.  We can drill down to lease clauses and very quickly understand an asset’s performance.” Wesgroup reduced costs by simplifying invoice processing with Yardi Procure to Pay, which automates the process all the way to vendor payment. “We pay several thousand dollars every month for document storage.  Storing images in Yardi Voyager significantly reduces these expenses in the long-term,” Manak says. Besides that, he adds, “approvers have immediate accessibility to vendor relationships by being able to review a vendor’s account and approve invoices for payment from the convenience as they are always out and about.” Meanwhile, Yardi Fixed Assets helps Wesgroup track assets that have varying amortization schedules.  “Previously each property had its own schedule —  for example, roofs amortized differently at different properties when the materials used to build them were identical, in the same geographical environment and were installed by the same builder. Fixed Assets automates...